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M1 chip and Gaming on MBP

Vulcan4770

Vulcan4770

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 8, 2010
100
13
Hi everyone,
First off, yes I understand Macs are not the best for gaming unfortunately - maybe that will change now.

For a game like World of Warcraft does the M1 chip with let’s say 16GB of unified memory on a 13in MBP have a better chance?

also, does unified memory significantly improve the integrated graphics? Just curious if I might even be able to get 60fps running WOW.



thanks!
 
I think it should be able to handle WoW quite comfortably at native resolution, but maybe not at maxed out settings.
 
World of Warcraft has Metal support, so that's a good sign. They appear to have compiled their latest expansion into ARM64 as well, but they haven't announced anything officially. These two things suggest that we will see a native version of the game. Native performance will be excellent. It won't beat a high end graphics card, but maintaining 60 fps on medium to high settings seems very feasible. Honestly, I half expected them to announce native support at the Apple event. That ARM64 string that was datamined in July, so I think it's safe to say they have a working, natively compiled copy of the game inhouse.
 
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Will WoW even run on ARM processors? Will it be simple enough for devs to make it available and running properly that it's worth it to them?

I'm kinda expecting less and less games being available now and in the future. Overwatch never even saw the light of day on Mac. :(
 
Maetzle said:
Will WoW even run on ARM processors? Will it be simple enough for devs to make it available and running properly that it's worth it to them?

I'm kinda expecting less and less games being available now and in the future. Overwatch never even saw the light of day on Mac. :(
Click to expand...
Is there an iOS version of WoW? If not, does the Mac version use Metal APIs.
 
GiantKiwi said:
No there is not an iOS version. MacOS version is Metal only as of 2 years ago.
Click to expand...
I don't see them being quick to port to ARM then. Most of the companies who are announcing native ARM versions of their software right now already have their code running on ARM for iOS (e.g. Microsoft Office and Affinity Photo).

At least they have Metal support, that should help.
 
If it's using Metal, it will probably run acceptable under Rosetta unless it needs to use a lot of CPU that can't be translated at install time
 
they already show Baldurus Gate 3 , an 2020 game that runs excelent in fullHD high settings
So a game like WOW that already run well on medium settings like i heard....since the M1 from the specs looks on par with Amd 570 ...an dGpu that was on the big macs like 27" imac...then it should run ok under Rosetta2 at fullHD, and will run very well after blizzard (i think its the company) will port their games for this mac architecture
No wonder Blizzard didnt support intel macs for sometime...no big updates for existing macs games and no support for new names like overwatch..so expect blizzard to be the among the first to bring at least 1 or 2 games next year to this mac architecture. There were even rumours that diablo 4 is build for arm macs and not for the intel macs
 
Vulcan4770 said:
Hi everyone,
First off, yes I understand Macs are not the best for gaming unfortunately - maybe that will change now.
Click to expand...
Conservative estimations suggest that M1 should be slightly better than the new Intel Xe graphics. I'd expect the performance somewhere between the Nvidia MX350 and MX450. This is great news for gaming on Apple — even the passive cooled MacBook Air should now be able to play mainstream games with acceptable settings (before, you really needed the 15"/16" model for that).

If Blizzard ports WoW to native M1, using some of the M1's unique GPU capabilities, you might actually see a significant performance boost.

ADGrant said:
I don't see them being quick to port to ARM then.
Click to expand...

I think that releasing a native Apple Silicon version could be beneficial to Blizzard. There is little doubt that these machines will sell like hot cakes, and this is a potential for Blizzard to grab some new or returning players . Especially in the early stages, when there won't be too many native games available.
 
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Gaming on a MacBook Air? Too cool! Will do a Pro though for the cooling.
 
There has to be the user base for games to be ported to the Mac. Producing games for Mac is a risk that most game houses don’t bother with.
 
Serban55 said:
they already show Baldurus Gate 3 , an 2020 game that runs excelent in fullHD high settings
So a game like WOW that already run well on medium settings like i heard....since the M1 from the specs looks on par with Amd 570 ...an dGpu that was on the big macs like 27" imac...then it should run ok under Rosetta2 at fullHD, and will run very well after blizzard (i think its the company) will port their games for this mac architecture
No wonder Blizzard didnt support intel macs for sometime...no big updates for existing macs games and no support for new names like overwatch..so expect blizzard to be the among the first to bring at least 1 or 2 games next year to this mac architecture. There were even rumours that diablo 4 is build for arm macs and not for the intel macs
Click to expand...
BG3 is a 2021 game. What we are playing now is only part of Act 1.
 
Stella said:
There has to be the user base for games to be ported to the Mac. Producing games for Mac is a risk that most game houses don’t bother with.
Click to expand...
Activision-Blizzard would start with porting this to iOS/iPadOS.

Call of Duty is on iOS.

If Activision-Blizzard was really interested, the logical step would be to bring WoW and Overwatch to iOS/iPadOS and eventually port to macOS.

There is a substantial user base on iOS/iPadOS. Of the main mobile device platforms, it has been known for years that iOS users generate a lot of revenue than Android users. That is the main selling point of a developer looking to expand their user base.

Remember that as of today, the M1 Mac user base is still basically zero. That will change on Tuesday when the first orders are delivered but it's not going to be millions of M1 Macs on Day 2. That will take years.

A company like Activision-Blizzard has zero incentive in late 2020 to prioritize M1 Mac game development. It might be more interesting in 2024.
 
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